A warning to anyone with lost pets: you could be the target of a scam. A Central Florida veterinary hospital said a scammer has been spoofing their phone number and claiming to have their lost pet. But they said the pet is injured, and they need money immediately to help them.On Tuesday, the Winter Park Veterinary Hospital said the first call came in. “I got a page from my client service manager saying we got this very strange phone call,” said Billy Hess, with Winter Park Veterinary Hospital, who says the caller said they had gotten a call from their animal hospital. “Demanding basically demanding money for an animal that was hit by a car, I was like, what? That’s not us. We didn’t do anything like that…” Hess said. He said they got more calls from people reporting the same thing. “We got like five calls within, I guess maybe two hours,” Hess said.So they put a post on Facebook warning people about the scam, and he said they reached out to the police. “I guess it’s called spoofing. Caller ID spoofing. Just kind of scary,” Hess said of his conversation with police. He said none of the people who called had pets who were patients there. They suspect the scammer might be targeting people who posted looking for their lost pets online. Like Chelsey McMillan. “His name is Nitro,” McMillan said. That’s the name of her bulldog mix that’s been missing since New Year’s Day. Tuesday morning, she said she got this phone call from a number showing up as Winter Park Vet. The name and number matched that of the Winter Park Veterinary Hospital. She said the caller said they had Nitro, he had been hit by a car, and they needed $1,300 to help him. “He’s telling me okay, you have three options: you can pay through ApplePay, PayPal, or Chime,” she said. McMillan said she asked why they couldn’t pay at the office. “…he said I could, but it would take longer, so if I did that, then my dog would just be paralyzed,” she said. She said it got worse. With the caller saying, “…if you loved him, you would pay now, I mean, do you want him to be paralyzed? And I’m sitting there like, dude, I can’t even talk because I’m crying so bad. You don’t understand what you just said to us. Cause he’s not a pet to us, he’s part of our family,” She said. She said someone else in the home decided to call the veterinary hospital directly while McMillan was still on the phone. “She said that they didn’t have him,” she said. And that’s when they knew it was a scam. “…why would you do that? To somebody who is already in pain, looking for their lost animal. Why would you do that?” McMillan said. The veterinary hospital said they don’t think any of the people they talked to actually gave the scammer money.WESH 2 reached out to Winter Park Police, and they said at this point they don’t have enough information to investigate further.Winter Park PD said anyone who has been the victim of a scam should contact their local law enforcement. Saying that when the origin of a phone-based fraud is unknown, the location where a victim lives is where the initial jurisdiction would be.

WINTER PARK, Fla. —

A warning to anyone with lost pets: you could be the target of a scam.

A Central Florida veterinary hospital said a scammer has been spoofing their phone number and claiming to have their lost pet. But they said the pet is injured, and they need money immediately to help them.

On Tuesday, the Winter Park Veterinary Hospital said the first call came in.

“I got a page from my client service manager saying we got this very strange phone call,” said Billy Hess, with Winter Park Veterinary Hospital, who says the caller said they had gotten a call from their animal hospital.

“Demanding basically demanding money for an animal that was hit by a car, I was like, what? That’s not us. We didn’t do anything like that…” Hess said.

He said they got more calls from people reporting the same thing.

“We got like five calls within, I guess maybe two hours,” Hess said.

So they put a post on Facebook warning people about the scam, and he said they reached out to the police.

“I guess it’s called spoofing. Caller ID spoofing. Just kind of scary,” Hess said of his conversation with police.

He said none of the people who called had pets who were patients there. They suspect the scammer might be targeting people who posted looking for their lost pets online. Like Chelsey McMillan.

“His name is Nitro,” McMillan said. That’s the name of her bulldog mix that’s been missing since New Year’s Day. Tuesday morning, she said she got this phone call from a number showing up as Winter Park Vet. The name and number matched that of the Winter Park Veterinary Hospital.

She said the caller said they had Nitro, he had been hit by a car, and they needed $1,300 to help him.

“He’s telling me okay, you have three options: you can pay through ApplePay, PayPal, or Chime,” she said.

McMillan said she asked why they couldn’t pay at the office.

“…he said I could, but it would take longer, so if I did that, then my dog would just be paralyzed,” she said.

She said it got worse. With the caller saying,

“…if you loved him, you would pay now, I mean, do you want him to be paralyzed? And I’m sitting there like, dude, I can’t even talk because I’m crying so bad. You don’t understand what you just said to us. Cause he’s not a pet to us, he’s part of our family,” She said.

She said someone else in the home decided to call the veterinary hospital directly while McMillan was still on the phone.

“She said that they didn’t have him,” she said.

And that’s when they knew it was a scam.

“…why would you do that? To somebody who is already in pain, looking for their lost animal. Why would you do that?” McMillan said.

The veterinary hospital said they don’t think any of the people they talked to actually gave the scammer money.

WESH 2 reached out to Winter Park Police, and they said at this point they don’t have enough information to investigate further.

Winter Park PD said anyone who has been the victim of a scam should contact their local law enforcement. Saying that when the origin of a phone-based fraud is unknown, the location where a victim lives is where the initial jurisdiction would be.